The present invention relates to a process and a device for producing designs on stockings in twin-cylinder circular knitting machines.
As known, designs may be provided on stockings manufactured with twin-cylinder circular machines either by means of hand-made embroidery, or by sewing the ornamental design onto the stocking or by printing.
In single-cylinder machines, the designs are generally produced directly by the machine during the forming of the stocking by feeding a preset number of needles with a thread differing in color with respect to the thread which constitutes the remaining part of the stocking, i.e. the background of the design. At the end of the knitting of the portion of row related to the design, the thread is cut by a rotating cutter arranged coaxially to the needle cylinder in the needles' work area.
A design with one or more colors differing from the background color of the stocking can be easily produced directly during the forming of the stocking in single-cylinder machines, but such a design is difficult to obtain in twin-cylinder machines. In twin-cylinder machines it is in fact impossible to place a rotating cutter in the needles' work area, since said cutter would interfere with the product being formed.